What do they think?

To me, cultural differences are one of the most interesting things.  I even think some stereotypes are interesting, ignorant or not.  I did some searching to find out what English people think of Americans.

What do they think?
The first source I found was a more educated, internet article from The New York Times.
The stereotypes mentioned were:
    -  Everyone carries guns
    -  Loud
    -  Country-bumpkins

The writer found when he visited the United States that Americans don't all cary guns, they aren't all rednecks and that they are hospitable, friendly, very polite and offer thanks for almost every service.  Another thing I thought was interesting is he said that we are very charming, but you don't always notice it as charm.  He talks about the charm in terms of friendliness.  He mentions his flight back to England.  When you sit down next to someone on an airplane, you say hi and possibly start a conversation, the English aren't much for that.  He also talks about where he plays tennis in England.  When he starts to play a game or is leaving a game, almost no acknowledgement of the other person is made.  In the United states, the is unacceptable and inconceivable.

The writer of that article mentioned something interesting about the "loud" American stereotype.  The thought is that Americans have no fear of being overheard.  He said most English assume that everyone loathes each other and just keeps it in and to open your mouth is basically to offend others.  So they talk quietly so they're not overheard.  Americans have no fear of offending others by saying just about anything because of freedom of speech.  That is why Americans generally speak louder; it's a little deeper than just being annoying and loud.


My next resource is a less educated, forum-style source.  I don't mean less educated as in dumb, but less educated meaning it's opinions of real people.

The first response talks about how we're generally looked down on for our "right wing" ideals and because of those, how poorly we deal with our poor and jobless.  He mentions our media being very skewed.  He talks about how only 1 in 10 Americans have a passport, yet claim the U.S. is the best country in the world, but know nothing of the rest of the world.  There are apparently a lot of jokes about our obesity as a nation, yet he acknowledges that England isn't far behind at all.

Here are some other stereotypes and thoughts about Americans:
    -  Ignorant and arrogant
    -  Our TV is most people's eyes into our culture and it portrays us as stupid and obese
    -  Racist
    -  Polite and friendly
    -  Cousins

Accents
Another very important factor in what they think of us is the difference between accents.

My first source is another forum-style website with some interesting thoughts and examples on spelling and pronunciation.  The first post is asking the English people on the message board to be honest about their opinions of American English based off of their interactions with Americans, not based off what the hear on TV.  He knows a lot of Englishmen who think that Americans have murdered the pure Queen's English.  He wants to know if they view us as lesser and lower social standing because of how we speak.

The first response mentions differences in pronunciation and spellings.  He gives us the following as examples:
British:        American:
colour         color
plough        plow
theatre        theater
analyse       analyze
centre         center

He also points out the difference between the British "aluminium" (al-you-min-e-um) and the American "aluminum" (ah-loo-min-uhm).

Another poster says that there is a campaign in action trying to make sure that English words aren't replaced by American.  Many people dislike that American spellings are being used instead of English.

There are many counter responses talking about how spell-check and teachers will mark your words as wrong if you use the British spellings.  We have strong rules enforcing our spelling here, so we can't just change them now.  Another person said they love the freedom that our language has linguistically.


My last source is another forum where someone asked what the English think of our accents.

The first response was full of compliments.  The person said that the southern style is: melodic, colourful and charming, the northern style is clever and refined and the Californian style is laid back and smooth.

Surprisingly, a lot love the southern accent.  But, similar to Americans, a lot of people hate it.  I love it.

A few people mentioned, that to English ears, American English sounds nasally.  They also said it's hard for them to understand a lot of our accents clearly.

One person said it is a cute accent because we smile a lot when we talk.


I just wanted to show you all what the world thought about you from an English standpoint.  I hope it was interesting and not too nerdy for you!  You really should check out the links, with the exception of the first one, they're all really short and simple responses.